Cornelius - RFH - 1/7/07

I was slightly unprepared for the sonic onslaught of Cornelius, or the Cornelius Group as they were styled, and their Synchronsied Sensuous Show. Known to some as the Japanese Beck, and to me as a DJ, remixer / producer, this show was alchemy of a different kind to Matmos’, a thick and heavy fusion at high temperature of many prefixes to the word rock – surf, punk, angular, funk, noise and post being just a few.

The four piece band, dressed in grey shirts with white collar and tight black jeans, were effortlessly cool, as were the lightshow and visuals. And it was all ever so tight. The synchronisation with the visuals was quite amazing, particularly given the speed of some of the playing. In the best number for this, a magical stop-animation scene set in a kitchen matched every pulse of the band, every vocal click coordinating with a sugar lump defying gravity and rolling across a table.

I preferred the more mellow numbers, although this was all relative, as even the slow tunes were heavy and the quiet ones loud. But for a finale, the band swapped position, the lady drummer who had been bashing nine bells of hell pout of her kit all evening took centre stage with a flute, and they lullabied us into the night with a lovely rendition of the old Dean Martin croon, Sleep Warm.



Which I did.